For the avoidance of tracking errors in record players, there are preferably used arrangements by which the tonearm is always retained along a tangent to the record grooves.
One such arrangement uses a short tonearm which is moved over the record by a guide system so that it is always in a position which corresponds to a groove tangent. An advantageous design of such a short tonearm, in which the permitted and forbidden movements of the tonearm and phono cartridge are determined by magnetic forces, is known and is described, for instance, in the U.S. application Ser. No. 902,217, which was filed May 2, 1978 for the same inventor as in the present application and also entitled BEARING ARRANGEMENT FOR A RECORD PLAYER TONEARM. For achieving a practically friction-free bearing of the tonearm, the vertical positioning of the system is magnetic. The tonearm is supported in a single point thrust bearing and held by means of a permanent magnet, by which also one of the degrees of freedom of movement is suppressed by appropriate dimensioning of stationary and movable magnetic poles which interact.